That always what worries me.. I never know how they are going to color this. I hope they do well, my inlaws are avid watchers and if they paint it possitivly it could be a big help to introduce them to my desire of a homebirth..

Bec, Married eternally to Dan for ten years. Parents to A (8/17/06) O (12/30/09) one love lost (2/07/09) and my little twin angels (9/24/11, 10/11/11)

You know before I opened this and could only see the first line with the hover over thing,..
I thought it was going to be a special on like WOHMs who were like jet setters and took their baby all over the country working. Who wore ring slings in their corporate meetings.
I dont think AP is extreme, just the normal natural ways to do things.

I think making bottles, making your baby cry it out, going through the hassles of pureeing baby foods, Going through all the hassle of a hospital, etc is more extreme! and too much work for me!!

Mama to Belly(5), homesteading in the desert with our chickens and sheep. Fish nerd, really into my reef tank. Baby due Sep 3rd!

Im wondering why its labeled "extreme" ok I can the whole pretend baby thing being a little different...but homebirth and breastfeeding "extreme"? 100 yrs ago it was the "norm" hey to each his own. I am going to watch it though.

I'm pretty sure women didn't start heading into hospitals until the early 1900's. And only in the U.S. did women go to the hospital to give birth and the midwives didn't go into the hospitals too.

I really want to watch this, but I'm debating whether or not to call around to tell people about it. I suppose if it's good and people later want an explanation for why I'm having a homebirth this will be on YouTube right?

I am watching this right now. I think the reporter did an okay job of being open minded about orgasmic birth. We'll see about the rest of it... I wish I didn't have to sit through the fake baby part to get to the homebirth part though.

I think they were trying to be open-minded but they somehow missed the difference between homebirth and unassisted birth.

I suppose the bit about the 'emergency rush to the hospital' was a bit biased. A lot biased. They only showed footage of the woman having a contraction in the cab, made the whole thing seem so traumatic when really she was on the phone and chatting the whole time. Then, they forgot to mention that the emergency c section was done by the doctor who had agreed to be their backup in exactly this situation, and that everything went exactly as planned.

I was at a birth that turned out *not* to be a birth just yet (false alarm), and while we were hanging out waiting to see if things would pick up, we watched this show. Ugh.

First of all, they talked about home birth and unassisted birth interchangeably, never distinguishing between the two, but using the term "unassisted" to describe obviously midwife-assisted births.

The fake baby segment was just creepy.

I know this may not be a popular thing to say, but enough with those British girls from the "Extreme Breastfeeding" movie. They'd make anything look weird. I'm sorry. But that little red-head with the glasses was way too cute! "When are you going to stop nursing?" "When I'm nine years old--it's the best time to stop."

I guess I don't have strong feelings about surrogate pregnancy/birth, so I didn't have real objections to that piece, but someone who knows more about surrogacy might, I suppose.

I think they were trying to be open-minded but they somehow missed the difference between homebirth and unassisted birth.

I suppose the bit about the 'emergency rush to the hospital' was a bit biased. A lot biased. They only showed footage of the woman having a contraction in the cab, made the whole thing seem so traumatic when really she was on the phone and chatting the whole time. Then, they forgot to mention that the emergency c section was done by the doctor who had agreed to be their backup in exactly this situation, and that everything went exactly as planned.

Whatever.

I totally agree with the first part - I heard the reporter mention unassisted birth a couple of times, and was like: "But, that's not unassisted...?"

I wasn't aware of any part of the last paragraph of your post...it really irritates me that such important details were left out and how they made the whole thing seem so traumatic. I mean, it is fair to show what could potentially happen, but at least include those details so that people can realize that was part of the plan if something went wrong. I'm not exactly sure why she had to be transferred anyway...?

The fake baby part was creepy. I had to fast forward through some of that. But besides that, and the psychologist guy, I thought the show was pretty good. IMO, they did a fair job at bringing these subjects that are so taboo and feared by our culture out into the open, so that the general population can see that there is a growing movement towards homebirths, extended breastfeeding, etc. I especially loved the part where they interviewed Robyn from VA beach's older children about breastfeeding, and showed how they are well adjusted, normal kids. I thought that was cool.
And they also mentioned that the natural weaning age around the world was about 4 years old. At least they included some good facts.

I was at a birth that turned out *not* to be a birth just yet (false alarm), and while we were hanging out waiting to see if things would pick up, we watched this show. Ugh.

First of all, they talked about home birth and unassisted birth interchangeably, never distinguishing between the two, but using the term "unassisted" to describe obviously midwife-assisted births.

The fake baby segment was just creepy.

I know this may not be a popular thing to say, but enough with those British girls from the "Extreme Breastfeeding" movie. They'd make anything look weird. I'm sorry. But that little red-head with the glasses was way too cute! "When are you going to stop nursing?" "When I'm nine years old--it's the best time to stop."

I guess I don't have strong feelings about surrogate pregnancy/birth, so I didn't have real objections to that piece, but someone who knows more about surrogacy might, I suppose.

Ugh. I think I need to go to bed.

I felt bad for the little red headed boy when she asked him "When are you going to stop nursing?" and he replied "When I'm nine years old -- it's the best time to stop." because the idiot reporter JUMPED! I mean, poor kid!!! I'm hoping he was oblivious to it but for the reporter to jump to me was like an "OMG Are you serious?" ughh.

I really think the orgasmic childbirth part was great. They made extended breastfeeders look crazy. And the homebirth piece was pretty biased - didn't really show anything good about homebirthing LOL - I mean, yeah, Ricki Lake's birth was there but then they spent more time showing her producers cab ride to the hospital.

These ladies spend like $1400 on 1 baby doll and then they devote a bedroom in their home as a nursery with real furniture, clothes, etc. They carry these babies around in public. They change their diapers. They pretend these babies are real. The one lady said she is disappointed when people don't come over to see her baby in public.

I wasn't aware of any part of the last paragraph of your post...it really irritates me that such important details were left out and how they made the whole thing seem so traumatic. I mean, it is fair to show what could potentially happen, but at least include those details so that people can realize that was part of the plan if something went wrong. I'm not exactly sure why she had to be transferred anyway...?

was this abby epstein? her baby was premature (34 weeks) and breech.

Christine, mom to C(7.5) - E(5) - J(3) - B(10 mos)

Doula, childbirth educator, Co-leader of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it." ~Anonymous

There was weird in everything I watched on that show. I couldn't stay up for the surrogacy part, but I did TiVo it so I can watch it later...

The orgasmic birth was weird to me - I'm guess I'm the only one who thought so. Those women must have worked hard on hypnosis and meditation in order to find passing a baby as pleasurable as sex - I'm sorry, but these are extreme cases, and certainly not the norm. I don't believe the average woman could orgasm during birth - I know many women who had homebirths or unmedicated hospital births and none of them were orgasmic.

The creepiest was the babies - I can understand wanting to collect them for display (they were very lifelike), but to walk them in a stroller, throw birthday parties for them, and parade them around the park? Those women are special, to say the least.

Extended breastfeeding. I'm sorry, but that huge 7 year old (who weaned "herself" at 8, btw), is almost comical to watch nursing. And then they kept showing a 2-3 year old boy - what's weird about that? Yes, his bro and sis nursed til they were 6 (which is weird), but the toddler nursing wasn't weird. If this show was about extremes, they certainly didn't pick a good extreme by choosing that one, IMO.

Why was that on this show anyways? I think that would be better on a 'look how crazy this person is' show... Any 8 yr old? Why would an 8 year old nurse? No need for the food source and no need for the comfort there either...

Does anyone know if there is somewhere where I can watch this? We don't have tv right now (not b/c of not liking tv, i love tv, but we wanted to make sure it fit into our budget!)

I really want DH to watch it, see what he says... At first he was totally against homebirth/unnassisted but I have been talking to him about it for so long now, he agrees that hospitals are whats 'weird'...... gosh, I wonder what he'll say to this crazy segment.

And then they kept showing a 2-3 year old boy - what's weird about that? Yes, his bro and sis nursed til they were 6 (which is weird), but the toddler nursing wasn't weird. If this show was about extremes, they certainly didn't pick a good extreme by choosing that one, IMO.

Actually, that little guy was 6, too, and in kindergarten. We kept saying he looked way smaller/younger than that, too, but they said he was six. I thought he looked really similar in size to my not-quite-4-year-old.

But they started the segment with 2.5-year-old twins, as if THAT was so weird!

The orgasmic birth was weird to me - I'm guess I'm the only one who thought so. Those women must have worked hard on hypnosis and meditation in order to find passing a baby as pleasurable as sex - I'm sorry, but these are extreme cases, and certainly not the norm. I don't believe the average woman could orgasm during birth - I know many women who had homebirths or unmedicated hospital births and none of them were orgasmic.

No, actually, I agree with you--mostly. I thought their *coverage* of the topic of orgasmic birth was fine. I find the topic itself a little irritating. It's not that I disbelieve what happened to these women, but I think it's just something weird that sometimes happens (and, hey--good for them!) and not a reasonable "goal" of childbirth. Like, if all the conditions are right, and the birth is just "perfect" and whatever, I still don't think you're going to have an orgasm. When that woman said, "When you think about it, the baby coming out is not so different from a penis going in!" I couldn't help but think that if my husband's penis weighed 10 pounds and were 22.5 inches long, I wouldn't be orgasming *then,* either. There's a difference.

When I saw the film, there was a discussion afterwards, and the woman moderating it had us all go around and introduce ourselves, and several of the women were like, "I have two kids, and I've never had an orgasmic birth, but I really hope to the next time..." and I just wanted to scream--that's not the point! But whatever, I guess.

I sound like I have a chip on my shoulder--I don't. I just think that the film focussing so much on orgasming during birth--and even being named "orgasmic birth"--put an unreasonable expectation in some women's minds, while leaving others unnecessarily disappointed in their births--and just made the rest of the world think they/we are crazy.